Here Be Monsters
by TheShadowedHunter
Summary: What if Wendigos aren't the only monsters of legend that are real? On the fateful night, when the Makkapitew went hunting, he was there. And everything changed. Some guest mentioned that my character's name is close to Albert Wesker. I had to google the name, similarity was an accident. Oops.


_Prolouge_

 _Mount Washington_

 _Aidan Veskar_

Aidan slipped through the woods behind Jack, their weapons ready. He grinned as they came to the edge of a cliff, and unslung his .50 caliber sniper rifle. Jack's voice came out muffled as he spoke to his partner through a thick bandana.

"You're gonna stay here?"

"I can see the Makkapitew from here. You'd better hurry Jack, he's on the move."

"Alright kid. If all goes well, I'll see you back in the mines."

"See ya Jack."

Jack hefted his flamethrower, and headed down the path into the valley. Aidan sighed as he spread out his tarp and opened his rifle bipod. He lay down, securing the weapon, and scanned the area below. It was forested, but he had a clear angle on the trail he knew that the Makkapitew would pass. Something flashed through his scope, and he started, re-angling the rifle to see what it was. A girl. Two girls were sprinting down the trail, clearly terrified. He hissed, and raised his radio, calling in Jack.

"We got a problem. Makkapitew isn't just wandering. He's hunting."

"Hunting what?"

"The Washington sisters. They're up here for a party with their friends, remember."

"Oh shit Aidan. This is bad."

"Yeah. I'm gonna try to help them. You keep Makka-douche off my ass Jack."

"Alright Aidan. Don't fuck it up."

"No shit, sherlock."

He clipped the radio back onto his belt, slung the rifle on his back, pulled the black scarf over his face, and lept off the cliff. He was only going to get one shot at this. Aidan covered his mouth as he plummeted, slamming into a massive pile of tree branches he had set at the bottom earlier in the day. He groaned as dragged himself out of the branches, bruised but alive. Clambering to his feet he turned at bolted down the track after the girls.

Aidan gulped at the sound of something loud and fast smashing through the undergrowth. He groaned, pushing his limits, running faster than any human could. This was going to be very bad, He drew his knife and turned the corner, lunging at-

"Jack?"

"Aidan?"

"If you're here, and I'm here, then where's-"

A scream pierced the night.

"OH GOD! PLEASE!"

"Oh shit.", Jack shouted. The two took off, bolting down the track. And there, at the end of the track was what they had come for. The Makkapitew. The most powerful Wendigo on the mountain had the two Washington girls trapped at the edge of a cliff. It advanced on them, and the ground crumbled away. The two girls plummeted with a scream, and the Makkapitew turned away. Jack roared with rage, launching a jet of flame at the creature, while Aidan ran to the cliff edge. The two girls hung by a small ledge, dangling by a fingertip, He extended a gloved hand, reaching out, and they stood suspended in time as he tried to reach them.

Suddenly, the illusion was shattered. With a howl of pure rage, Makkapati hurled Jack some fifty feet from where the two fought, over the cliff edge. The tanks from his flamethrower slammed into the girl dangling from her sister's arm and she lost her grip, plummeting after Jack. The second girl screamed as her sister fell.

"Hannah! No!"

The Makkapitew howled behind him, and Aidan made his endgame move. The girl, her second hand now free, reached up, and with superhuman strength he threw her over the ledge back onto solid ground. The Makkapitew charged and Aidan roared a challenge, filled with grief for his mentor. He channeled his rage and fear, drawing his machete and slamming it into the Wendigo's head. Unfazed, the beast retaliated, swiping it's claws at his face with a blow that would decapitate any human, But human he was not, and he dodged back, his torn scarf fluttering to the ground, Aidan bared his fangs, his true nature as a Vampire showing through. He struck again, the machete screeching against the Wendigo's skin, and he rolled with the blow, narrowly evading a brutal slash from the monster. As he stood again, the Makkapitew chose a new route of attack and lept, not at him but at the girl. WIth one last burst of energy, he slammed into the beast mid-leap, and hurled it off to the side.

Makkapitew howled with rage, and gathered it's legs back, preparing a powerful leap that would kill the Vampire, ending the fight. But it was not to be. Aidan groaned, reaching under his coat, drawing a sleek black .44 revolver. As the Wendigo tensed for the leap, he fired.

The bullet ripped away, the massive force of the blast behind it, and at point blank range, tore into Makkapitew's leg, severing tendons and muscle, shattering the bone, and stopping. At the same instant, the beast leapt, but with only one leg propelling it, Makkapitew crashed unceremoniously to the ground. It howled, and stood, holding its injured leg up out of harm's reach, and began to charge, but without its powerful pounce, Makkapitew, like any Wendigo without its pounce, was severely weakened. As it rushed Aidan once again, he lept onto its back, knocking it to the ground. WIth a powerful twist of his body, he hurled the Wendigo to the side, and over the edge of the cliff.

Groaning, Aidan dragged himself to his feet, heart racing. Then he remembered the girl. She lay curled up in a ball against a tree, sobs emanating from her. He strode over to her, and wrapped his leather duster around her shoulders, looking down at her.

"You alright."

"No. Hannah is gone! This is _your_ fault!" She lunged at him, and he dodged, avoiding her swing. He ducked under her next punch, and grabbed her, pinning her arms to her side. He dragged her down toward the lodge, hanging on as she struggled against him.

Aidan knocked loudly on the door of the lodge. The girl, Beth, he remembered from Jack's information about the Washingtons, had exhausted herself fighting him and screaming for her sister. He opened the door and heard the click of a gun. A boy stood, pointing a handgun at his head.

"Who the hell are you, what are you doing with my sister?"

"I saved her life, kid."

"Beth. Where's Hannah?"

Beth broke down crying again, collapsing to the floor.

"She's gone. She fell over the cliff and into the mines, with my partner Jack and the monster we were hunting."

"What monster? There's no such thing." another guy, this one blond with a faux hawk hairstyle.

"Monsters are very much real. This particular one is an abnormally powerful Wendigo called Makkapitew."

The third guy in the room spoke up.

"The hell's a Wendigo?"

Aidan laughed softly.

"A Wendigo is a curse. Should anyone resort to cannibalism on this mountain, they transform into a Wendigo. Their arms and legs lengthen. Their spine twists, their hair falls out, and their skin stretched tight across their body, before hardening into a thick armor. And they relentlessly hunt for food to satisfy their eternal hunger. A Wendigo will eat anything it can catch, and it can catch almost anything. They prefer human flesh though."

The first guy, the one with the gun looked almost thoughtful. Then he laughed.

"Like hell you're telling the truth." he raised the gun, but Beth stopped him.

"Wait! Josh, he's telling the truth. That thing, it was hunting me and Hannah. He attacked it and saved me."

"Fine.", Josh said. "I'll bite. What's the difference between this Makka-crap thing and a Wendigo then."

"Makkapitew is the Alpha Wendigo. He's bigger, faster, stronger, and more deadly than the others. Hell, he probably survived being tossed off that cliff. So I'm going to find him, and I'm going to finish him off."

"I'm coming with you. If this thing killed Hannah, I owe it to her to get it back."

"I'm with you Josh. This is all my fault, I'm going too."

Emily spoke up.

"Why are you going to look for Hannah, Mike? Stay here with me, I'm your girlfriend!"

"Em. I'm sorry. This whole thing is my fault. I owe it to Hannah-"

"MICHAEL! Stay here! This is Hannah's fault! We didn't know she couldn't take a joke!"

Beth lept to her feet and lunged, slapping Emily.

"YOU BITCH! WHAT YOU DID WAS CRUEL AND SADISTIC! My sister is dead because you couldn't handle someone having a crush on your boyfriend!" She broke down again, sobbing uncontrollably.

"Thanks Mike."

"Great. Great, now that we're done our little bro fest, let's go." He handed his rifle to Mike, then reached into Jacks-no, his duffel bag and pulled out a shotgun and a machete. He handed them to the other two guys.

"Remember, these won't kill a Wendigo, just slow it down. Get into the basement, barricade the door, and stay quiet. I've triggered my distress beacon, my back up should be here soon. Two guys and a girl. When they get here, ask them for a code, they should answer Veskar. If they answer something else, it isn't them and start shooting." He slung his discarded duster around his shoulders, hefted the duffel bag, and opened the door, followed by Josh and Mike.


End file.
